Monson residents vote against expanding Select Board

Nov. 18, 2022 | Lauren LeBel
llebel@thereminder.com

A standing vote determined how Article 20 would be voted on during Monson’s Special Town Meeting.
Reminder Publishing photo by Lauren LeBel

MONSON – All warrant articles were approved at Monson’s Special Town Meeting besides the last one, Article 20, regarding increasing the Select Board from three to five members.

On Nov. 14, over 100 people filled the auditorium at Granite Valley School to vote on various matters in town. The majority of the two-hour meeting consisted of comments and concerns with Article 20 and how it would be voted on.

The article was a citizen’s petition submitted by Monson resident Roxanne Gunther. In her explanation, Gunther said, “The town of Monson has one of the lowest ratios of Select Board members to people represented at just 0.37 members per 1,000 people, when compared to the towns under Massachusetts Select Board District, which covers all of Western Massachusetts being the counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire.” By increasing the number of board members, Gunther believes it would create a “more equitable voice” among residents and allow for more “diversity of thought” on the board itself.

John Morrell, Select Board member, spoke against the article. He said, “Going to a five-member board is a bad idea. It calls for bigger government, more expenses creating two more town salaries, bigger bureaucracy, more arguing, taking longer to get things done or resolved – it’s going to slow things down. Our government works slow enough now.”

Pat Oney, Select Board chair, asked residents not to expand the board at this time. She noted that they have several other matters right now to consider such as reclassification and consolidation of jobs, restructuring the departments with a possible chain of command issue and rewriting the general bylaws, to name a few.

Karen O’Toole, Monson resident, said, “We have a three-person board and I think the three people do their best to represent us, but I don’t think we are diversified enough for the general population of Monson.”

Karen Nothe-Valley, town resident and chair of the Monson Democratic Committee, shared her opinions. Before doing so, she noted that they were her personal views and were not endorsed by the committee. “Expanding the board does not mean bigger government. The Select Board will still have the same exact mandates, same exact tasks,” she said.

She went on to reference the Monson School Committee which is a five-person board. When they work, Nothe-Valley said she feels the five members get all things on the table with more thoughts and improved decision making.

Following her remarks, James Pennington, Finance Committee member, pointed out his fellow members sitting on the stage. After being on the committee for nearly 30 years, Pennington said it took until 2022 to reach the 13 total members they now have.

Regarding the increase of Select Board members, Pennington said, “I have a problem with this in that we have 100 people here and 100 people are going to decide for the entire town.” He expressed that he doesn’t think that’s an appropriate number to decide.

Bob Lamb, Monson resident, agreed that 100 people shouldn’t be able to change the form of government in town. He added that with a larger group – Select Board or not – it is harder to reach a consensus.

Colleen Flynn, School Committee chair, said she was not speaking for or against the article, but shared that it is difficult to have a conversation with only three members. She added that if someone is ill during a meeting, they can still reach the three-member quorum.

Demetra Atkins, Monson resident, said based on the Select Board meetings, there always seems to be two versus one. “We need more variety, we need more opinions, options, so it’s not always a two on one,” she shared.

Resident Ronald K. Valley said if they expand it to five members, he thinks more people will run to fill those seats. Over the past couple of years, he shared that it’s been “getting stale” with who is in those seats.

Ben Murphy, highway surveyor, recognized the points made on each side, however, he said he feels as though the current Select Board members are “getting slammed.”

“I’ve been working for the town for 32 years. [I] agree, disagree with some of the things the Select Board has done, but it’s all worked out in the end,” said Murphy. “Let’s give them a little credit.”

Robert Kaddy, Monson resident, made a motion to move to question. The motion was seconded and approved.

Town Moderator Peter Matrow explained that prior to the meeting, he was asked if he would consider having a secret ballot on this article. Pennington said, “If we had voted this way in every election that we’ve had here then I would say fine. But we have not done that. We’ve only done that when we could not discern what the numbers were. I think it’s totally out of order to do that. This is not some communist country.”

Based on Pennington’s objection, Matrow decided to turn it over to the residents to decide if the vote would be made by a secret ballot or a paddle count. After a nearly 30-minute debate, the majority of green paddles determined that a secret ballot vote would not be made.

When it came time to vote on Article 20, 45 people were in favor and 70 were opposed. As it required a majority vote, the motion failed.

Article 4

The town unanimously approved Article 4, which will establish the Opioid Stabilization Account for the purpose of future expenditures related to opioid recovery.

O’Toole asked how this would be funded.

Jamie Farnum, finance director, explained that these are settlement funds, and they are expected to receive about $266,000. As those funds come in, instead of turning them over to the general fund, it allows them to spend it separately for opioid recovery.

Article 16

The town passed Article 16, which approved the sum of $5,500 for professional services in developing a Flynt Park master plan to assist and guide the town of Monson with a plan to increase and improve the recreational opportunities at Flynt Park. The plan will incorporate trails and access to the disc golf course.

Val Beaudoin, Monson resident, explained that this project is through the Conway School for Landscape Design out of Northampton. The Select Board already approved $5,500 of this project through American Rescue Plan Act funds. The remaining funds will now come from the Community Preservation Committee.

Remaining articles

Article 1, which was approved by the town, will fund a Position Classification and Compensation Study of all town employees, not including the schools.

Article 2, a vote to raise and appropriate or transfer and appropriate a sum of money for the Police Salaries Account, was approved by the town.

Article 3, a vote to transfer and appropriate from available funds to the Town Planner Severance Account, also passed.

Article 5 referred to raising and appropriating or transferring and appropriating a sum of money to fund a land survey at the Bethany Road Cemetery from Pine Street to Chestnut Street. This will determine if the granite pillars at the Bethany Road Cemetery are on town property.

Article 6, which was approved by the town, pertains to raising, appropriating or transferring a sum of money to the Outside Legal Services Account.

A motion was made by the Finance Committee to pass over Article 7, the combination of the treasurer and collector positions. The motion was seconded and approved by the town.

Article 8 pertained to transferring and appropriating a sum of money to the Bills of Prior Years Account. The article required a 9/10 vote and passed with 93 voting yes, seven no.

Article 9, which passed unanimously, will transfer and appropriate from available funds to the Memorial Hall Repairs Account.

Article 10 passed and will fund a capital purchase of an ambulance.

Article 11 transfers and appropriates from the Sewer Enterprise Retained Earnings a sum of money to the Sewer Department Maintenance of Joint Treatment Prior Year Bill Account. The motion passed unanimously.

Article 12 pertains to transferring and appropriating a sum of money from the Sewer Enterprise Retained Earnings to go toward costs and expenses related to the pump overhaul at the Hospital Road Pump Station. The motion passed.

Article 13, which was approved by the town, will transfer and appropriate a sum of money from the Water Enterprise Free Cash toward Water Prior Year Bill Expenses-Services.

Residents unanimously approved Article 14, to transfer and appropriate a sum of money from the Water Enterprise Retained Earnings for cleaning and rehabilitation of the well on Bethany Road.

Article 15 transfers and appropriates a sum of money from the Water Enterprise Retained Earnings to the Water Operating Account for costs related to the water meter replacement project.

Article 17 referred to authorizing the Select Board to petition the General Court for the passage of an act relative to the town of Monson treasurer-collector position. The motion passed.
Matrow explained that there was a typo and Article 18 was nonexistent.

Lastly, voters approved Article 19, to amend Article 23 of the General Bylaws to delete any reference relative to the separate offices of collector and treasurer and replace such reference with the combined office of treasurer-collector.

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